jfritz

two years later, I’ve finished my second year of Japanese study at college. It’s a really rewarding experience and you meet a lot of nice (sometimes strange) people. To those pondering on whether or not to do this, just go for it. Keep your mind open though, because if you aren’t a linguist it will be difficult.

For me at least, happiness doesn’t slap you in the face or hit you like a brick wall. It sort of creeps up on you. I think most people, when they think of happiness, they think joy and elation, but for me happiness is simply being content with life. That’s all anyone ever needs.

So, I’m up to 350 cranes.

If an alien race were to examine a single human’s activities during their lifetime, they’d probably have the damnest time trying to figure out why they do certain things.

I feel this way about folding cranes. People must think I’m crazy or something. I’ve talked about this before, but I feel like writing about it again. If someone were to ask me why I fold cranes, I couldn’t give a good answer. Some things in life are just done for no clear reason or thought as to why it’s being done.

I know what the cranes mean to me. They mean a lot of things. They mean things that I long for, and they mean things that I wish to forget. And it’s not just the cranes themselves, but the dedication and resolve it takes in folding them all. The development of the skill to a point where you can fold them with your eyes closed, gracefully, as if you were an entity whose sole existence was only for folding these cranes.

They are love, sadness, anger, resolve; stoic, but deranged. They rise from sickness, and yet are bringers of healing. Perhaps above all though, if I were to commit a crime such as to generalize about their meaning to me, they wipe away my tears and keep me moving forward to other, new days. And it’s not just for me. It’s for all those who need something strong to believe in.